You knew it wouldn’t take long before the new “head-shots rule” would come under scrutiny because of the leeway officials have in enforcing it.

Last night, San Jose center Joe Thornton was ejected for his hit on St. Louis’ David Perron and it sounds like the league is considering a suspension for the Sharks captain.

Here’s a look at the play from multiple angles:

Now, I’m all for the “head-shots rule” and the reduction of blows to the head in the league, but this one is so borderline you have to wonder if NHL on-ice officials (or any humans) are equipped to make such a spur-of-the-moment call at the high rate of speed of the game. In fact, it might be time to let a television screen or the boys in the “War Room” help out with these calls.

Thornton’s hit was certainly a blow to the head. But it’s clearly shoulder-to-head contact, which is legal under the new rule as long as the hit comes from the front. Was this hit lateral or from the blindside? To me, the fact that Thornton exited the penalty box and the hit occurred toward the St. Louis blue line proves he was going at Perron from the front. I hate to criticize the victim, but Perron misses the pass and fails to turn his head, not to mention he obviously wasn’t aware Thornton was about to get out of the box.

Now there are two aspects of this play and the punishment that serve as a cautionary tale for Bruins players and players throughout the league. It starts with the fact that the officials, knowing how much the league wants to take head-shots out of the game, are seemingly going to be sensitive and lean toward doling out punishment any time a player is hit in the head and goes down. It seems the attitude is it’s better to call the penalty, hand out the game misconduct and then apologize for it afterward if it wasn’t warranted rather than risk not penalizing a player for a vicious hit that violates the new rule.

That in itself establishes a fine line that could cause some of the league’s best players to not perform at their peak, and could take some of the sport’s most exciting plays out of the mix.

The other troubling part of the call on Thornton, is that this is obviously a hit to the head as a result of Thornton being 6-foot-4 and Perron standing just 6-0. Even long before the adoption of the new “head-shot rule,” commissioner Gary Bettman always brought up the scenario of Bruins 6-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara practically having to hit every guy in the head — just based on size alone — when explaining how difficult it is to define an illegal hit to the head. Let’s face it, “genteel giant” Joe Thornton wasn’t aiming for Perron’s noggin, but the Blues forward got hit in the head because that’s how the hit lined up.

The Sharks lost 2-0 (Perron returned to the game to score one of the goals) and missed their top offensive playmaker desperately. Could the Bruins find themselves down their captain and best power-play point man in a future game should an opposing puck-carrier wind up connecting his head to Chara’s person in a play that causes officials to overreact based on the new rule? As long as the four officials on the ice are left to determine what constitutes “lateral” just by watching the play once at full speed, taller players everywhere are at risk of unwarranted penalties. When the league’s GMs sit down this weekend to discuss expansion of the replay rule, this is one they might want to take a closer look at.

I think this was a borderline hit to begin with, which means that it should just get the game punishment, since it wasn’t obviously malicious, and even questionable if the rule applied. At least the league is getting more consistent about how they deal with borderline plays, unfortunately the wrong way.

Tough call, I think the in-game call was correct and no further punishment is needed, especially when you consider the offender. Bottom line, once you get passed the semantics of the rule, is the leauge is trying to curb hits to the head to reduce concussions and preserve player safety. This was without a doubt a hit, directly to the head of an opposing player, who (his own fault or not) didn’t see it coming. Message enough was sent with the 5/Game call.

I was actually watching this game on TV last night when it happened. At the time the call was made, I agreed with the call, but after seeing the replay throughout the night, my opinion changed. Thornton does come from the front and Perron is skating through the neutral zone with his head down looking for the puck.
I think the new rule is there to protect players and is therefore good. Of course it’s going to take some time to tweak and there’s always going to be bad calls and non calls as with any other rule, but it’s a step in the right direction.

clean hits should be lateral to an average between the angle of the other player’s likely line of vision and the general vector or their movement. that’s how I judge them as fair or not (note that this is not the rule on the books). this one was borderline, but I’d have called it. hit them from the front and you are fine, otherwise, expect a penalty or three.

I have two points…
1. Players need to keep their heads up
2. Players need to watch out for each other and communicate.

1. I think that young players need to be coached to be more aware of the dangers coming at them. NHL sized guys are too strong and too fast for anything less. The consequence for not seeing a hit is pretty severe and that awareness skill needs to be developed early on.

2. Not ever hit can be seen ahead of time. Being honest with my first point, I am well aware that there will be times where a guy just doesn’t see it coming. Hockey is a fast sport and there is a lot of movement at high speeds. Players need to communicate to each other more about big hits. Even if it’s the guy doing the hit.

I remember hearing an old timer talk about hits from back in the day and he said that guys used to announce that they were about to laid out a player to give the victim a chance at bracing for the hit.

The purpose for the hit is to jar the puck from the player or change the momentum of the game. Which can each be achieved by giving the player a second to know the hit is coming.

This rule is impossible to enforce with any sort of consistency. The rule states that hits from the front are OK while those that are lateral are not…Lateral to what? Players change direction on a dime and at extremely high speed so a hit that is intended to be delivered in a legal manner can quickly turn illegal with no wrong doing by the player throwing the hit. So do we punish him anyway? Bring in an “unintentional clause” like the high sticking rule? I don’t know the answer but could it be that the hits haven’t changed at all just the guys throwing them? The average player is 25 pounds heavier and 4 inches taller than they used to be in the “glory days”. Add to that the better equipment, training, technique and speed of the modern game and big guys are going to send little guys to the hospital. Its physics.